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There are three acceptable coat colors in the Labrador retriever: black, yellow (with variation from fox-red to light cream), and chocolate. Black is the most common color, but the numbers of yellows and chocolates are on the rise.

Coat color is determined by the type of genes received from each of the parents. Black is the dominant color genetically. Simply put, if there is a black gene present in the dog’s makeup, the dog will be black. A yellow coat is produced when a dog receives a recessive gene for this color from both of its parents. In the absence of a dominant black gene, the recessive genes can be expressed. Because of this, a black dog can produce yellow or chocolate offspring if it carries both a dominant black gene and a hidden recessive.

The chocolate color is also a recessive, but many variables come into play regarding the inheritance pattern of this color. The recessive chocolate factor can be carried by both black and yellow Labradors. There may also be a crossover or modifying effect involved with the chocolate recessive, because in several generations of breeding chocolate to chocolate a breakdown in pigmentation, eye coloring, and overall coat color often occurs.

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The number of ways you can give your oldster a break is limited only by your imagination. Here are a few tips to get you thinking:

1. Clothes: Canine clothing isn’t just for poodles anymore. Older dogs, like older people, have a harder time maintaining their body temperature. This problem is even more pronounced in slender, short-coated breeds like the greyhound or whippet. So check out the sweater selection at your local pet-supply store, or consider altering one of your own for the task.

2. Beds: Think soft. Think cushioned. Think low. Think heated. Your dog will thank you for all of these thoughts, especially in cold weather.

3. Dishes: Raised food and water dishes are a kindness to tall dogs of any age, but they are especially easy on the back of an old doggie. You can find them at pet-supply stores or you can make your own.

4. Ramps and Steps: If your dogs are allowed on the couch and the bed, you should be able to find or build something to help out the dog who can no longer make it in one jump. You wouldn’t want to watch TV without your dog at your side, would you?

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Leash practice should be fun. If the puppy is timid, walk him up and down indoors, pulling gently and coaxing to keep him in motion and in line with you. Then try it in the yard or up and down a quiet street. Never jerk violently, or choke him if he refuses to move. Let him wander off at will; if he sits down, pat and laugh at him a bit, and wait a moment before beginning to get him going. He will soon realize that the leash is a tie between him and you.

Puppies learn more quickly from other dogs than from us. If you have a friend with an older, leash-trained dog, walking together will soon put the idea over to your puppy. When he finds that the leash means “We are going out!” it becomes a friend, not a foe.

Like the collar, it is a signal he soon learns, and will bring to your attention when he wants action! You are teaching him this when you pick it up and say “Here is your leash, we are going for a walk!” At first, start him on a long leash. Go as far away from him as the leash permits, then call “Come (dog’s name)!” As you do this, give the leash a little jerk toward you. If he resists, pull gently, and the moment he is within reaching distance, pet and praise him.

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